The Doctor
by kubhfbebr
Summary: This fic is set right after the Doctor meets young Amy Pond in Season 5, Episode 1: "The Eleventh Hour". Due to the radiation and recent regeneration, the Doctor experiences memory loss and travels the universe searching for a new companion and amazing adventures. Author's Note: Please send your feedback! I'd love to hear how to improve. No hate-speech though.
1. Broken Circuits

Quick Disclaimer: This is just a joke between me and my friend. If you somehow find this, know that it's a complete joke, and isn't meant to be good or anything.

The TARDIS was completely ruined. The Doctor had managed to get it upright, but not without the entire swimming pool leaking into the second library and the bedroom sector. In addition to the soaked inside, for once the Doctor had no idea where he was. He had felt the TARDIS fly away from Earth, but he had a concussion (a very difficult thing for a Time Lord to achieve), and couldn't remember what this planet was, where it was, or what inhabited it. All he remembered was that he was supposed to be somewhere on Earth, and that this definitely wasn't Earth.

Quickly stepping into the speed dryer, a recent addition to his TARDIS, the Doctor tried to remember what he was doing on Earth. He vaguely remembered a promise he had made, and that he had made it to a very important person. Shit. He didn't enjoy swearing, but after his 'thing' with Queen Elizabeth, he couldn't afford to upset another monarch.

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, gently closing the door behind him. "I won't be gone long, don't worry." He whispered, breathing deeply. That's weird. The air was almost the same as Earth, but seemed to be lacking in methane and krypton. Racking his brain, the Doctor could only remember two species that lived in such conditions. The D'ethir tribes, a peaceful race, known for using extremely old teleportation spells for navigation instead of spaceships. They were a nice race, one that he had met before, when he accidentally landed on their Kyori plantation. They'd been very annoyed at his until he disappeared into his TARDIS and came back out with at least three years' worth of Kyori.

The other possibility was that he had somehow made his way onto a Pikkalean ship. That would be unusual, because the planet sized spacecraft were normally shielded and cloaked. Maybe this one was in trouble? He would have to investigate. Walking around, he quickly came to notice the insect-like structures built around the small mountains that dotted the ship's surface. They were eerie and almost parasitic in nature. He felt as if he had seen them before, but he didn't think that they were dangerous to him, and he quickly forgot about them.

After about a mile of walking, he quickly realised that the shields must be broken, and they must be somewhere… different. He had never seen these constellations before, and he remembered every other constellation, even with his concussion. The sky was pitch black, which was extremely dangerous for Pikkalas. They were plant-based, and the shield system was always set to broad daylight so that they could constantly absorb the solar rays. For the sky to be dark, their main control system must've been taken over or destroyed. He needed to find a travel pipe to the system control, but he couldn't see any from his current position.

After ten more minutes of walking, the Doctor saw something up ahead. It looked to be the same design as the previous insect huts, but this one was much larger. With towering spires that reached up into the sky, and outreaching settlements that looked like roots, leeching the life out of this ship. Maybe this race was more dangerous than he thought? Inorens! That was the name of the insects. But they were harmless. He had never seen a colony even a fifth the size of this one. And they made their colonies out of clay 'shells', but this colony seemed to have stronger, rougher shells. As he approached, he realised that there was something wrong. He could see lights on everywhere, but there were no Inorens. In a city like this, there should be thousands, and the noise of them scuttling should be deafening. But he could see no movement. Maybe they were all dead, or maybe they were all in hiding.

The Doctor concentrated. He could hear a faint scuttling to his right, wait, no, behind him? He turned around to the face of a massive, undoubtedly female insectoid staring intently into his eyes.


	2. The City of Insects

Holy crap. A bloody Ayokyan. How did he forget? The massive cities, the sandy terrain, their lifestyle of digging massive underground caverns. Wait a minute, he wasn't underground? What were they doing above ground? This was not a good sign.

Now, for anyone who has never seen an Ayokyan, you might be a bit confused at the moment. The Doctor met them for the first time right after Rose said no to his request that she join him in his travels. During the time he spent considering whether or not he should go back and ask again, he travelled the universe multiple times. The Ayokyans are an insectoid race, with mantis-like faces, but the body of a centipede, and they are as long as a bus, and as wide as one. They are avoided by the rest of well, everyone. They have an unnatural attraction to blood, as in, well, they're attracted to it. Jack Harness once told a story of a time that he crash-landed in one of their colonies, and well, he had a good couple of nights with a few choice Ayokyans, let's put it that way.

Quickly patting himself down, the Doctor was glad to see that he had no cuts that were currently bleeding. His recent regeneration had caused an influx of regeneration energy, meaning that all the cuts he had retained from his crash on Earth had been healed. Wait, crash? That was something he hadn't remembered. A crash, and a promise to an important individual. His situation was looking worse and worse. Realising that the Ayokyan had put her head down, he quickly sunk to his knees, making sure that she didn't attack. Her eyes glinted with approval. "You are worried," she muttered. "There's no need to be. You have proven your respect for my race, and you are not attractive enough for me to want to do anything else to you. You are not… leaking." The Doctor let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

Of bloody course it was the Ayokyans. How did he ever forget them? They couldn't breathe in methane or krypton. That was the only reason why they weren't still on Earth. They were the first species to walk on land, but quickly left when the air started to become polluted with the two toxic gases. It's good that they did, because with all the wars that had happened, their hormones would be raging almost constantly, and last time the Doctor checked, most humans disliked interspecies sex. Most of them.

The Ayokyan coiled around the Doctor, gently pushing him onto her back. She was old, he realised as he felt her battle-scarred shell tense beneath him. She started moving toward the centre of the city. Looking around, the Doctor noted that their technology, while relatively primitive, was well-made. He had so many questions. How did they get the materials to this planet? They normally ate insects and small critter that lived underground, so what were they eating? He decided to save his questions until he met the King. "My name is Rakshir." She said. "I am surprised that you do not have any questions for me." It was as if she had read his mind.

"Um. Well. I have a few I guess, but I thought your King would be better equipped to answer them." He replied.

"What makes you think that I am taking you to the King?"

"Well, isn't that what you normally do?"

"Yes, but instead I will take you to the other one of your kind."

"Other one? I'm not sure I understand what you're saying."

"Jenna. She informs us that she is a human. From our elder planet."

The Doctor was perplexed. There was a human here? Was he being taken to a dungeon? Maybe they planned on torturing him. They did like blood, after all. Rakshir just smiled, and laughed to herself. Maybe he should run for it. That might work if not for the fact that the Ayokyans could travel up to 70 kph when running. The doctor felt a knot in his stomach as they reached a dark metal door.


	3. Jenna

The Doctor was cautious entering the room, to say the least. The door was heavy, he estimated maybe eighty kilograms. Exactly the kind of door that you'd use for a jail cell, he realised. "Maybe I can stay outside a bit longer?" he asked.

"No. Jenna will want company. You will not be allowed any special privileges." That worried the Doctor. This was beginning to seem more and more like a capturing. He stepped inside, quickly realising that it was a corridor with many doors off of each wall. Only one was open, second from the end on the left side. Rakshir motioned toward the door, and the Doctor complied. He walked inside, and was almost blinded by the change in light. This room appeared to be a laboratory of sorts, and was using heavy fluorescent lights. Compared to the corridor and the barren tundra outside, it was like, well, stepping into the TARDIS. In one of the back corners, a young woman sat, hunched over what looked to be a piece of Ayokyan shell. She seemed very deeply invested in her work.

"Jenna. There is another of your kind here." Said Rakshir, and turned away, leaving the door open a crack. At least it wasn't a capture then, the Doctor reasoned. That was an upside. Jenna turned around, stood up, and ran towards the Doctor, pulling him into a fierce bear hug. "Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god." She panted, pushing him away to examine his face. "Another human! I have not seen another person, well you know what I mean, the Ayokyans are people, but they're not really people, but, like, oh my god! It's so good to know that I haven't been left here to rot!" After her rant, Jenna realised that he looked rather uncomfortable with the excitement.

She stepped back, wringing her hands and looking at the floor. The Doctor laughed. She looked up surprised. "What's so funny?"

"It's just, I've never met someone so… forward." The Doctor responded, stifling a chuckle. "What are you doing here?" She looked confused for a bit, but quickly recovered, standing up straight and smiling. "I'm doing research for the Ayokyans."

"Yes I can see that, but why?"

"Well it's a long story. And I know that that's cliché, but it's true." At this the Doctor quickly looked around the room. "Looks like we have a while."

"Hmm. Yeah I guess we do. Well, it all started with a TTA meeting. That's Time Travel Association. I was meeting with a few other pilots. Actually, it was only the fifth meeting that we'd ever had. We were tasked with trying to find intelligent life. We'd already met some species of course, but the Association wanted to explore all possibilities."

"That never goes well. Didn't they consider the possibility that there might be dangerous species out there?"

"That's what I thought. Anyway, I was just coasting through the cosmos, when my engines started to fail. I had nowhere to land, and I might've still been drifting if the Ayokyans hadn't contacted me. They had very basic communication and teleportation technology, but it was enough for me to be transported down here. I planned on staying only until I could get my ship fixed, but I ended up doing some research on the Ayokyans.

"So how long are you going to stay?"

"That's the thing. By the time I'd finished fixing my ship, they didn't want to let me go, and they destroyed it. I'd done too much for them. The King wants me to stay forever."

At this the Doctor's head snapped up. "You're a captive?" He wondered if they knew about the TARDIS. If they did, then he was screwed. They'd never let him onto his ship alone, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let any Ayokyan onto his ship. They'd probably try to lay eggs so that they could take over other planets. "Yeah I guess. But I've been thinking of leaving. Just escaping somehow. I haven't figured out the plan yet. I don't even have a ship."

"I have a ship." He recommended.

"Really?! That's awesome! But is it big enough for both of us to sit comfortably?"

"Yeah, I think it might be."


	4. Planning and Plotting

The Doctor and Jenna spent the next few days discussing their plans. They had decided that Jenna would tell the Ayokyans that for the next stage of research she would need to travel through the desert for a day. The Doctor would be her research assistant. They both knew that there was no way that the Ayokyans would let them go alone. At least one guard, maybe more, would accompany them. Their plan was to pretend as if the TARDIS was something that they had never seen before. When they approached it, the Doctor would open the door just enough for them to slip inside, and the shields would activate to protect them from the Ayokyans.

That was the plan at least. As a backup, Jenna had a small stun gun that she had created from her ship's small engine and blasters. She estimated that it would be able to put an Ayokyan out for at least a minute, which was way more time than they needed. Today, they just sat around waiting for Rakshir to come, so that they could request their 'expedition'. "So how much have you found out about these Ayokyans?" the Doctor asked.

"Not much. But what I have found out is really weird."

"Can you give me an example?"

"Well… for example… did you know that," She leaned in close and whispered, "They're attracted to blood?"

The Doctor sat back and started laughing. "Yeah, of course. It's the thing that they're best known for." She stared at him in disbelief.

"You find that funny?! I only found out after I cut my finger! I went to find a bandage and instead every single Ayokyan started trying to climb on top of me! I had to barricade the laboratory for a day!" The Doctor put on a sarcastically empathic face. He tried to suppress a laugh, but ended up snorting. "You have to admit it's pretty funny though. These massive, bus-sized insects are attracted to blood. That's so stupid." At this, she started blushing. Slowly, her posture became more relaxed and soon they were both laughing loudly.

An Ayokyan who the Doctor knew as In'forio opened the door, flanked by two other Ayokyans. "You are to be taken to the King today, Doctor." He stepped back, extending an appendage to the end of the corridor. The Doctor realised that he was pointing in the wrong direction. Instead of the outside door, this door was leading further inside. The Doctor stepped forward hesitantly, looking back at Jenna. "Jenna cannot come with you today, Doctor. This is a private audience." Jenna shrugged, a look of pity painted on her face. The Doctor opened the door and left, following a large flight of stairs upwards. They climbed for two minutes, and then abruptly stopped at a corridor grander than any that he had seen. It was ten metres tall, and the shell that lined the walls was silver, and polished. Stepping into the Hive, as the Ayokyans called it; the Doctor was stunned to see a massive Ayokyan sitting atop a bronze throne that seemed to take up half the room. He approached the King, and knelt.

"Mighty King, why have you requested my presence?" He said, loudly, keeping his head down. He had absolutely no idea as to why the King wanted to see him. He had come to terms with the fact that he would never meet the King. "You join my nest, advance my technology in leaps and bounds alongside my lovely Jenna, and you expect to be left alone? Not a chance Doctor." The King's voice was a deep baritone, reverberating around the room. The Doctor even noticed that the throne was vibrating with the King's soothing voice. The King started to move forwards to meet the Doctor face to face. He had only moved a metre when the Doctor noticed the throne uncurling. It was only at that point did he realise that the entire throne was an extension of the King's body. The sight was terrifying.


	5. An Audience with the King

The Doctor stepped back, his breathing quickening. They were going to try to escape this thing? That was outrageous. It was at least a hundred metres long, and its shell was coated in a strange metallic material. It was unlike anything the Doctor had seen on any of his travels. The torchlight glinted off the beast's back. Beast. That was what it was, a beast. There was absolutely no way that an Ayokyan could grow this big. The stronger shell, the incredible size, the sheer strength that it must have to hold up its own body. It was terrifying. The Doctor looked away, noting the way that the torchlight flickered on the walls.

The bright red reminded him of his forgotten promise. Who was this ruler? He could not think of many redheaded rulers. And she was an important one. She. The fact that she was female had just came back to him. Shit. Another female that he had let down.

"Why are you frightened?" the King demanded. "I shall not harm you unless you give me reason to. I find your race quite… fascinating." With that remark, he reached out an appendage to the Doctor's face. The Doctor recoiled, surprised by the warmth of the shell. "It's just… You're massive. Ayokyans are not supposed to grow to this size. The biggest ever seen was maybe, twenty metres? And you, you look at least eighty." He gestured along the King's shell.

"As a matter of fact, I am 104 metres, and thirteen centimetres. I could go into further detail, but what are a few millimetres in the face of such massive proportions." The King reached out two appendages, the shell clacking on the floor just behind the Doctor. A third appendage reached out once again to his face, vibrating while the King talked. As the appendage reached his face, the Doctor realised a couple of things. Number one, his skin was extremely soft after his recent regeneration, and two, there was a relatively sharp, buzzing appendage next to his skin. Too late, he moved away.

He could feel his skin split where the King had touched him. His blood rushed to the opening, and one drop slowly formed. The King's eyes widened, looking crazed and… hungry. Suddenly, the King shot forwards. The Doctor was knocked backwards onto his arse, and he quickly turned around and scrambled up. Sprinting down the corridor, he heard the sound of shell on shell and a low, vibrating noise that he knew was the mating call of the King. "COME BACK HERE, DOCTOR." The King bellowed, causing the Doctor's brain to shake. He could feel his frontal cortex quiver and contract, causing his vision to go blurry and him to trip up. The King's animalistic cries were affecting the hormones in his brain, trying to paralyse him with an overdose of serotonin and dopamine.

As he reached the stairs, the Doctor lost all hope of escaping by running. Stopping briefly to tear a piece of shell off the wall, he looked behind him. The King was right behind him, coiled up and around the corridor like some twisted, perverse New Year's dragon, like the one you might find at a Chinese market on Earth. The shell came loose after a quick buzz with his screwdriver, and he jumped onto it, awkwardly skating down the stairs. As he looked up, the King vaulted the banister and started to free fall directly down the centre of the spiral staircase. Roaring, the King tucked his appendages tight to his body, speeding up the fall even more.

Reaching the laboratory's level, the Doctor quickly jumped off the makeshift board and ran inside. Jenny spun around quickly, throwing a microscope and a folder full of loose paper onto the floor, surprise evident on her face. "What do you think you're-" she started, and then quickly noticed the cut on his cheek, which was now bleeding profusely. "Oh shit oh shit oh shit." She mumbled, as she grabbed a piece of greenish tissue from the table. She ran to him and held it to the cut, and the Doctor felt a cold, reaching sensation inside his cheek. When he ran his hand back over the cut, the only evidence was a smear of blood, which Jenna was quick to wipe up.


	6. The Ask and the Answer

Jenna quickly put the tissue in the incinerator and the Doctor watched it quickly flare and dissipate. Seconds later, the King crashed into the door. "DOCTOR. COME OUT NOW." The Doctor's heartbeats quickened. He slowly opened the door to the heavy-breathing King. The King scanned his face, looking for the blood. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were sane, and all his hunger had gone. "I am sorry for my advances Doctor. I have no idea what came over me." The Doctor nodded, "It's already forgotten. While you are here, Jenna and I had a few requests."

"Then speak them."

Jenna piped up from the side of the room. "Well, my research has kind of reached a standstill. I need to go into the tundra to get resources to find out more about your lifestyle." The king bowed his head, and seemed to consider the request for a moment. "Very well. I assume that the Doctor will be joining you?" Jenna nodded.

The king acknowledged her agreement and then looked down the corridor towards the exit. "I will send some of my personal guard with you then. It would be a loss to have my two best researchers lost in the tundra." The king made a move to leave, but the Doctor tapped him on his shell, causing him to halt. "I was wondering where in the universe we were. I mean, I know all the stars and I can usually tell where I am, but I've never seen any of the constellations outside before." The King seemed perplexed. "Stars. I have not heard that before. We, the Ayokyans, we call them the Fireflies of the Night. They are beautiful, but terrifyingly large creatures. If you had asked me a thousand millennia ago, I might have been able to answer your question." The Doctor's shoulders sank. New knowledge was always exciting to him. And a completely new set of stars! That was truly fascinating.

Almost everyone who had every met the Doctor knew that time was not a straight line, as a matter of fact it was a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. But space, well, it was almost the same. Although space could be measured, and appeared solid, it was just as ever changing as time. But one thing that the Doctor had only witnessed once in his life was a new system of stars appearing. It had happened once, in the Milky Way in fact. Three years before the first bacteria was birthed, almost all the stars in the sky went out for a day, and a new set was created. He had been back there, to watch that amazing cosmic event at least thirty times.

He knew that he would be back here many times in the future, but he would have to leave first. The day of the expedition, he found Jenna sitting against the wall in the laboratory, wringing her hands. He sat down next to her, and grabbed her hands, stopping her. "What's up?" he said, keeping his voice low and comforting. "Um. Well, it's kind of complicated." Jenna replied. Her head was tilted back, tracing the lines in the roof. "Sometimes I get, kind of, anxious. I normally have medication and oils that calm me down, but I've been living here for a while and I ran out a couple of weeks ago." She took a deep, stuttering breath and tried to stop her eyes from welling up with tears. "I used to have a boyfriend, but he left and it's gotten worse. I don't really have anyone to feel close to anymore." Tears were running down her cheeks, but she took no notice, and her voice wasn't shaky. It was as if she was experiencing her hurt from the outside, not really feeling anything.


	7. The Road so Far

The Doctor was hesitant, but he put an arm around her. She leant into him, trying to clear her mind of the negative thoughts. For a while, they just sat there, neither of them talking, just feeling comfortable in the silence. She started drawing in the small amount of sand that had come in from the windows. Watching for a while, he realised that she was actually quite good. "Can I tell you a story?" the Doctor asked, keeping his eyes on the picture. She nodded, and pulled her knees up to her chest, holding them close with one arm.

"Once, there was a man called Medicus. He looked perfectly ordinary, and to be honest, he was. The only thing weird about him was the fact that he didn't fit in. His tribe was an orderly tribe, focused on proper speech and respect. The problem with this was that some people didn't deserve respect. There were elders in the tribe who had some very controversial thoughts, which got them into fights with the other tribes." He took a deep breath, and realised that Jenna was now drawing Earth. "During one particularly bad battle, Medicus ran away. He travelled far and wide, and eventually found a tribe that accepted him. He loved all of them, but he had a tendency to travel. While travelling, one of the tribe members would travel with him. This was fine, except they would leave every single time, and it wasn't any easier any time.

Eventually, Medicus realised that maybe it was he that was the problem. But he loved all of them, he did. So he kept on travelling, and they kept on journeying with him. And so kept on the cycle."

He stretched out his legs, letting his muscles relax. "Was there any moral to that story?" Jenna asked, and she turned so that her head was in his lap and facing the ceiling. Absentmindedly, he started playing with her hair. "I don't think so." He replied, thinking to himself. "I guess… Never mind." She turned to look at him. "It's still a beautiful story." Rakshir opened the door, and beckoned them. They both stood up and grabbed their bags. For the Doctor, it was just a small amount of food. Jenna had some food and tools, but underneath she had her most important possessions. The Doctor thought that that was one of the beautiful things about humans. The fact that they could assign such importance to such a trivial thing. Jenna had a picture of her room and dog, as well as a piece of pine tree branch suspended in glass that reminded her of her first home.

There was another Ayokyan waiting for them outside, who introduced himself as Onilio. The plan was to ride on the Ayokyans until Jenna saw what she wanted, and then they would stop and she would get what she needed. As they moved away from the city, the Doctor thought over Jenna's condition. Most people might've been thinking of how to get away from her, but not the Doctor. Instead, he was wondering if he had any pine oil, as that was what she said calmed her down. If not, he could easily get some from a store on Earth. "What is it that you are looking for?" commanded Rakshir. "I'm not exactly sure, but there should be a rock formation or something, which would be where your ship first crashed." She looked nervous, but the Doctor was impressed by her creativity. He caught her eye and gave her a small nod, showing his approval. She nodded back and turned her head forwards.

Travelling at such a fast pace made the journey back to the TARDIS much quicker. The journey only took 25 minutes, as opposed to the couple of hours that the Doctor had walked to find the Ayokyan city. Seeing his amazing blue box, he called out, "What's that?" he said, pointing at the TARDIS. Jenna leant forward and squinted, but her eyesight wasn't nearly as good as the Doctor's TARDIS enhanced vision. After about thirty seconds, she saw it. She looked at the Doctor, very clearly showing that there was absolutely no way that she was squeezing in there with him. He just sighed and put up a hand, motioning for her to wait.


	8. A Smooth Escape

*Author's Note: I've decided to make the chapters a bit longer. Previously they were all 600-800 words, but I'm going to try and get 1,000 to 1,300 words from now on.*

As they approached the TARDIS, the Ayokyans started to look worried. It was obvious that they were scared of this futuristic technology. "I think that the Doctor would be best equipped to make sure that it's safe." Said Jenna, motioning towards the Doctor. The Ayokyans quickly glanced at the Doctor, and quickly coming to a decision, slowed down. "Very well. We do not like the look of such a foreign thing," said Rakshir, "But I would feel better if you went with him Jenna. We do not trust him as much as we trust you." Both Jenna and the Doctor were extremely surprised at how well their plan was working out. They didn't even need to suggest anything. It seemed as if the Ayokyans fear was helping them. "Alright." Said Jenna, making sure to put on a hesitant tone.

Jenna and the Doctor slid off the Ayokyans backs and moved towards the TARDIS. The Doctor opened the door, and quickly pulled in Jenna and himself, shutting the door behind them. "What the-" started Jenna, before a loud hammering began outside the two doors. Jenna looked obviously worried. "Those doors aren't even going to hold for a minute. The Doctor just sighed and moved to the control panel. "Crap." He muttered, looking at the Gallifreyan that was quickly flashing across the screen. Still amazed by the TARDIS, Jenna moved over to him. "What's wrong?" she asked, trying to decipher the cryptic language. "They must've installed some tech or something. I can't teleport out of here." He frantically typed into the keyboard and started pulling levers, trying to bypass the system. "Oh shit. I installed that the second day I was here. They made me so that I couldn't leave." She looked extremely self-conscious, trying to make herself disappear.

The Doctor walked over and hugged her. "It's fine. Nothing to worry about." Remembering something, he held up a finger, telling her to wait and ran off. A minute later he was back with a small glass container. "This is for you." He said, holding it out to her. Jenna took one sniff and then instantly pressed the small opening to her wrists. The fresh scent of pine oil washed over her, instantly calming her. "Thank you." She whispered, smiling. She closed her eyes and disappeared in the familiar scent, leaving the Doctor to figure out how to escape this accursed planet. Minutes later, they heard the loud scuttling of thousands of Ayokyans. "JENNA. DOCTOR. COME OUT NOW BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING THAT YOU WILL REGRET." Screamed the King. Checking the outside camera, the Doctor realised that the King was coiled up like a snake, towering over the TARDIS.

Moving over to the navigation panel, the Doctor took off. He didn't normally fly manually, but this was a special occasion. Meaning that if he didn't, he and Jenna were surely dead. The TARDIS lifted off, a bit jittery. Slowly at first, and then faster and faster, they gained altitude. Weirdly, the stars seemed to be growing in size rapidly. At first, the Doctor thought that this was quite weird, but he quickly realised why. He had been confused when the King had referred to them as the 'Fireflies of the Night', as the Ayokyans were not the most poetic race. He realised his mistake in not thinking about it more. What he had previously thought were stars were actually massive firefly-like creatures. Bigger than an Ayokyan, they clung to the roof of the cave. Shit. It was a cave after all. That would make the exit much more difficult.

The flies woke up one by one as the TARDIS flew by. Now was not the time to have forgotten to run silently. Although they looked like over-sized fireflies at first glance, they were completely different. They still had the same bioluminescence as fireflies, but their wings were massive, and they had eight wings each. One by one, they detached themselves from the ceiling and started to chase the TARDIS. Doing a quick scan of the planet, the Doctor realised that they were extremely far under the surface, and it would take at least ten minutes, even at max speed to escape. The scan showed that a catacomb system led to the surface only a hundred metres ahead of them. The Doctor steered toward the opening, followed closely by at least fifty of the monstrous fireflies. Even though the TARDIS was fast, the fireflies knew the tunnels better, and were always right behind them.

Taking a turn too fast, the TARDIS hit a wall and bounced off, losing momentum. Two of the fireflies sped up and started smashing the TARDIS into the walls of the tunnels. Before the Doctor could stop her, Jenna stood up and shakily made her way to the door. "Jenna! Stop, you'll be killed if you go out there!" shouted the Doctor. The control panel started to beep violently, and he reluctantly tore his eyes away from Jenna to fix the shields. Jenna opened the door and levelled the stun gun. Pulling the trigger, a flash of white-hot electricity flew from the end of the blaster.

The shot connected directly with one of the fireflies. The bolt tore through its eye, and a sickening pop reverberated through the cavern. Half of the fireflies face suddenly went slack and melted. A scream escaped the creature's mouth, giving Jenna and the Doctor a headache. As Jenna watched, the firefly started to smoke, and the bioluminescence started to spark. Within seconds, searing hot purple flames consumed the creature, and the wings burned up. What was left of the charred corpse fell to the ground, disintegrating when it crashed into a stalagmite. Staring at what was left of the once magnificent creature; Jenna quickly recovered and aimed at the other one. Her first shot connected with one of the firefly's wings, but the firefly only faltered for a second. She took aim again, and when they got to a particularly narrow part of the tunnel, she shot. The firefly tried to dodge, but there was almost no space. The shot tore through three of its wings, leaving them as charred skeletons. It screamed, and Jenna's vision blurred. She took the third shot, but missed by an inch.

That didn't matter in the end. The firefly tried to dodge, but was met by a stalactite, which made a crunching noise as it ripped through the firefly's thorax. A thick, gooey liquid spilled out onto the floor, and the next shot from Jenna lit the liquid on fire. The same purple flame consumed the cavern behind them, and they kept moving forwards, leaving the burning, screaming carcass hanging from the roof. Jenna collapsed onto the floor of the TARDIS as they reached the surface.

Letting out a sigh, the Doctor sat down next to her. "That was some really good shooting out there. I'm sorry I doubted you." Jenna just nodded and rested her head on the Doctor's shoulder. After a minute, both of them were fast asleep, and they just drifted. The TARDIS was in stealth mode, and there was no need to wake up or do anything for a long time.


	9. Chips and Memories

Hours later, Jenna woke up. She turned to the right and saw the doctor fiddling with his sonic screwdriver, still sitting next to her. "How long have you been awake?" she asked. He looked up from the screwdriver and looked around the room. "Maybe two hours? I have no idea." Jenna pushed herself up, moving into more of a sitting position. "What? You just sat here for two hours? Why?" she was utterly perplexed. He could've been doing anything else, but instead he just sat there. "If I moved, I would've woken you. And you needed your sleep." Jenna blushed. The only thing worse than knowing that he sat down next to her for two hours after he'd woken up was knowing that it was because of her. She stood up quickly, trying to hide her blushing face. The Doctor stood up and brushed his pants absentmindedly. "So, where do you want to go?" he asked, walking over to the control panel. "Honestly, I could really go for some chips right now." The Doctor let out a small laugh. That was what Rose had said after they saved Platform One. "Alright. Chips it is. Any particular shop you're thinking of?" Jenna was hesitant for a minute, and then answered with determination.

"Bay Café, Oregon." The Doctor didn't even hesitate, just started plugging in the coordinates.

"What year?"

"This thing can time travel as well? Of bloody course it can. It can teleport, it's massive inside, and it can fucking time travel." She shook her head. "June 18th, 2046."

"Alright."

Seconds later, Jenna opened the doors to her favourite café. She'd only been her twice, but all her memories of it were full of happiness and comfort. The small building sat on the edge of a lake and a pine forest. The first time that she'd been here was with her mother, two weeks after her mother had been diagnosed with leukaemia. The second time was on their second trip, a month after her mother had been marked as clear. Her mother was still growing back hair, and only had an inch of hair covering her hair. They had bought chips and sat by the edge of the lake, skimming stones. Even though she was 17, and couldn't really afford to miss a week of school, her family always came first. That was June 17th. Today was the day that she and her mother would be flying back.

They bought chips, and sat down at the same shoreline. "So where are you from?" questioned Jenna, keen to find out more about this mystery man. "Nowhere on Earth, if that's what you're asking." Jenna looked at him, surprised. "Are you even human?" The Doctor shook his head. "No way. You're bullshitting me." In response, the Doctor just pointed at his heart. Jenna was confused until he gently grabbed her by the wrist and placed her hand on his heart. It was beating normally. "So? Humans have hearts; don't know if you noticed that." He moved her hand to the other side of his chest, and she was surprised to find a second heartbeat. "I'm not human, but I'm not that different. My race is one of the most powerful in the universe. The only real difference between us and you is the fact that we have two hearts and can regenerate." Her brow crinkled, thinking through what he just said. "Regenerate? What does that mean?" He grabbed a rock with a sharp edge from beside him, and drew it across his finger. Jenna watched as the cut flared with yellow light, and slowly began to heal, until there wasn't even a mark where the Doctor had cut.

"Why didn't you do that in the Ayokyan city? She asked. He could've saved himself a lot of trouble if he'd just done that. "Well, there's a couple of things that you need to know first. Number one, my race, the Timelords, only really regenerate when we're close to death. And number two, I just regenerated after absorbing five nukes worth of radiation." She moved to leave, but he stopped her. "Don't worry. It's all gone now. It was absorbed when I regenerated. But it had a strange effect on me. I can no longer heal at any time, which Timelords can normally do right after a regeneration. It seems to be random. And I got a concussion after I regenerated, which never, ever happens." She looked at him, worried. "Shouldn't we get you to a doctor? You might have something seriously wrong with you." He shook his head, and threw the stone into the water.

"No, I'm alright. The TARDIS told me that there wasn't anything wrong with me, just something off with the regeneration."

As they left, Jenna thought of a question. "What did you call your ship the TARDIS?" the Doctor looked at her as if he'd had to explain this many times before. He sighed and quickly explained, "TARDIS isn't a name I gave my ship, it's what they're called. They're the main form of transport used by my species. TARDIS stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space." Jenna just nodded, as if there wasn't anything more normal.

"So what now?" the Doctor asked as they walked back towards the TARDIS. She looked at him, eyebrows slanted in confusion. "What do you mean?" she responded, no idea what he meant. The Doctor spread his arms wide, indicating the forest around them. "Well, you might want to go home. Most people don't like to stay away from their family for too long." She just shook her head, looking reminiscent and sad. "When I joined the TTA, the government wiped away all memory of my family. I still have the memories, but I don't know who they are or what they look like. It might make me sad if it wasn't so… forgotten." The Doctor was surprised. He'd seen, even worked for governments all over the universe. But none of them had literally wiped the memories of their recruits. Most of them just politely requested that they break ties.

"Well, I always wanted an adventure." Jenna said, a mischievous glint in her eye, and a smirk on her face. "One adventure coming right up." Said the Doctor as he reached the control panel. He typed in the coordinates, pulled the lever, and the next second they were gone.


End file.
